


His Downfall Is Cat Puns

by ImpacticalJoker



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Identity Reveal, Slight swearing, accidental reveal, cursed foods adrien, lovestruck Adrien, nervous marinette, shout out to meg for cursed food adrien, will add tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-23
Updated: 2018-09-22
Packaged: 2019-07-15 20:51:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16071095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImpacticalJoker/pseuds/ImpacticalJoker
Summary: After accidentally finding out Chat Noir is her crush and fellow classmate Adrien Agreste (through puns, no less), Marinette has a hard time processing this information, deciding to seek confirmation from her partner himself.





	His Downfall Is Cat Puns

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first fic i plan on fully completing and publishing sorry if it's trash. it will not be posted anywhere else besides my tumblr, funny-mlb-screenshots. big thanks to my gf for beta-ing this for me ur the best

“Dude, did you hear about the cat that knows how to play piano?”

 

It’s morning before class. Everyone’s chatting, waiting for the bell to ring, when Nino sparks up a conversation.

 

“Nino, literally _everyone_ has heard about it,” Alya says, butting in. “It’s all over the internet.”

 

“Uh, yeah, I know, but this cat is cool. Get off my back.” Nino turns back around in his seat to face Adrien while Marinette giggles quietly.

 

“What do you think, Marinette?” Alya questions, propping her chin up on her hand and raising an eyebrow. Adrien and Nino’s attention snap over to her as well. “Think the cat’s cool?”

 

Her giggling suddenly ceases when she’s suddenly the one in the spotlight. Twiddling her thumbs and hyper aware of her crush’s eyes boring into her, she looks down at her desk. As much as she likes looking at Adrien, she’s unable to make eye contact.

 

“Well, um, I’ve seen other cats do cooler things. This one isn’t any more special than the others, I guess?” The three accept this as an answer, thankfully deciding to not argue with her about it.

 

“Well _I_ , for one,” Adrien starts, “think this cat could make a good _meow-sician_ one day,” he proclaims proudly, winking at Marinette. His goofy grin nearly reaches from ear to ear.

 

‘ _Wait,’_ Marinette pauses, her blood running cold.

 

_‘...Meow-sician?!’_

 

The bluenette’s gaze slowly rises to the boy sitting in front of her, her shock immeasurable. Eyes running over his visage, the girl can feel the color drain from her face. There’s only one blond-haired, green-eyed boy she knows that makes puns.

 

“I also like the cats with bread around their head. Makes for very good _pure bread cats,_ huh?”

 

This shouldn’t raise any alarm, right? Tons of people like puns, why is this particular boy any different?

 

With clenched fists, Marinette manages to stay silent. If Adrien is, indeed, Chat Noir, then…

 

She should probably keep quiet about it.

 

“Marinette, are you _feline_ okay?” Adrien asks, making apprehensive finger guns. “You look a little pale.”

 

Before she can answer, Mme. Bustier strides into the classroom, shuffling papers around in her hands. She straightens them on her desk and gently places them by her computer.

 

“Alright, students, take your seats. We have a lot to go over today, so we shouldn’t waste time!” Marinette slyly dodges the question, opting to bend down to sift through her bag, numbly going through the motions of pulling out her homework and notebook. This was going to be a long day, she decided.

 

For the entirety of class, Marinette is unable to focus on the lesson. Her mind is currently on the boy sitting in front of her, mind always wandering from the class back to him. What if she’s wrong? What if she’s reading too deeply into this? It was a harmless pun, not the first she’s heard from Adrien, but…

 

What if she’s right?

 

Alya couldn’t ignore the fact that her best friend was obviously nervous about something, clear in the way she kept clicking her pen and bouncing her leg. She leans over to whisper to Marinette, idly paying attention to the lesson.

 

“Girl, you okay?”

 

“Mhm.”

 

“...You sure?”

 

“Mhm.”

 

“Are you gonna focus on the lesson now instead of staring at Adrien?”

 

“Mmhmm.”

 

“... Do you ever draw Adrien in his underwear?”

 

“Mhm- wait.” Marinette realizes what Alya said, giving her a dirty look. Alya has a singular eyebrow raised.

 

“Seriously, are you okay? You’ve been spaced out the entire lesson.” Marinette sighs, putting her pen down and willing her leg to stop moving. She buries her face in her hands, fingers gripping onto her bangs.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine, I just… have a lot on my mind right now. I promise I’m okay,” she explains, turning to her friend and giving her a wavering smile. Alya’s eyebrow hasn’t gone down, but she reluctantly turns back to her notes. Marinette gives a small sigh in relief. She silently prays that Alya won’t give her the boot later.

 

The rest of the class resumes without incident. Everyone’s packing up by the time the bell rings, signaling the start of lunch. Zipping up her bag, Marinette glances over at Alya.  
  
“I’m gonna head to the bathroom real quick, is that fine?” Alya gives her friend a worried glance as she packs her supplies away as well.

 

“Sure, go ahead. We’re probably gonna be eating on the front steps of the school once you’re done.” Marinette gives her friend a smile that doesn’t quite reach her eyes, slinging her bag over a shoulder and booking it out of the classroom. Looking around to make sure she’s not being followed, she bursts into the empty bathroom, briskly walking in and locking herself in a stall. Tikki flits up and out of the bag hanging by Marinette’s hip.

 

“Tikki, you don’t think Adrien could be… Chat Noir, do you?” Marinette questions, out of breath.

 

The small red Kwami gives her chosen a sad look, her antennae drooping slightly.

 

“I don’t know, Marinette. Plagg and I promised to not interfere when it comes to identities, especially yours.” Marinette covers her face once more, whining into her hands. She leans back onto the door of the stall, sliding down until she’s sitting on the restroom floor, hugging her knees close to her body.

 

“What do you think I should do…?” Marinette asks. “I have no idea where to go from here.” Tikki looks thoughtful for a second, a singular hand tapping at her chin.

 

“Well, you could always ignore it.”

 

‘... _What kind of advice is that?!’_

 

“No way, Tikki. It’ll just eat away at me. Even if he isn’t Chat, I won’t feel better unless I get some sort of confirmation.”

 

“Your only other choice is to confront him then,” Marinette freezes at that. “...Which I don’t think you want to do.”

 

Does she? It’d be better to, she thinks to herself. If Marinette hid the truth from him, then what? What if he finds out?

 

“I’ll… I’ll do it. I’ll talk to him later tonight.” Tikki nods approvingly and hides herself back in Marinette’s small bag, the human girl patting her tiny friend before clicking the pouch shut. The teen picks herself up, dusting off her clothes before heading out of the restroom and to the front of the school.

 

Exiting the school, Marinette can see Nino with his head in his hands and Alya silently shaking her head while Adrien innocently enjoys his lunch. Not wanting to intrude on whatever’s happening with them, Marinette silently makes her way over to them and sits down next to Alya, unpacking her lunch while listening in on what they’re saying.  
  
“Adrien, I love you bro, but you can’t just… eat a peanut butter and strawberry sandwich. That’s so disgusting.” Nino massages his forehead in utter defeat.

 

Adrien, defensive about his sandwich, takes another bite, saying around a full mouth, “I told you, we didn’t have jelly. Sometimes you just gotta make do.”

 

“ _Adrien you literally live in a huge mansion with a fully stocked kitchen how do you-_ okay, you know what? This is a cursed conversation, let’s just drop it.” Nino lets out a long sigh, cutting this certain topic off.

 

“Nino, you can’t just drop it like that! You’ve dishonored me and my food!”

 

“It’s not my fault you eat stuff like… _that_ on a daily basis! Don’t think I’ve forgotten about the watermelon bagel incident, you heathen!”

 

Marinette decided she wanted no part in this, instead she tuned them out while quietly munching the food she packed. Alya scoots closer to her, nudging Mari’s shoulder with her own.

 

“You still okay, Marinette?” Nino and Adrien must’ve noticed Alya scooting away, for their attention was turned toward Marinette for the second time that day.

 

She freezes up, cursing the way Adrien stared at her. “Y-Yeah, i'm ferpect! PERFECT, I mean, haha… I’m fine, let’s keep eating?” Everyone lets it go, going back to eating their lunches, cursed or otherwise.

 

Marinette starts thinking about Adrien, getting lost in her thoughts as she eats.

 

‘ _I’m surprised I haven’t noticed how much of a dork he is. It makes sense, now that I know he’s Chat Noir. Or, at least, I_ think _I know. Is he, though? Man, this sucks. I wish I could just ask him right now.’_ Marinette slumps her shoulders, wishing she could focus on something else.

 

Alya’s voice brings her out of her reverie. “Have you guys checked out my new post on the Ladyblog yet?”

 

“What, the one about her age?” Nino perks up at the off topic question, pausing in his eating to listen.

 

“Yeah! Marinette’s already heard my whole spiel on this, I’ll make it short. So you know I’ve pretty much figured out her age, right? I put her voice through a voice identifying system and it pretty much confirmed what I thought. Cool, yeah?” Adrien can be heard sighing wistfully after Alya’s explanation. The trio turn to see him resting his chin on his hands, a far off, loving look plastered on his face.

 

“Man, wouldn’t it be cool if you were right about Ladybug going to our school? I mean, just imagine it: we all could’ve talked to her at one point and we wouldn’t even know it!” Marinette looks away again at that comment. This conversation is worrying her, especially if it does turn out that Adrien and Chat are the same person.

 

It’s… too close for comfort, you could say.

 

“I know, right? What I wouldn’t give to talk to Ladybug, even if I never end up knowing I was,” Alya says, just as dreamily. “That statement applies to you especially, Adrien. You’re not exactly inconspicuous about your crush on Ladybug.”

 

Adrien chokes on his sandwich, coughing to dislodge the food.

 

“Damn, sorry, Adrien,” Alya says, not sounding sorry at all. She shrugs.

 

“Yeah, dude. Don’t know why you’re freakin’ out, it wasn’t exactly a secret.”

 

_‘Wait.’_

 

_‘Adrien likes Ladybug.’_

 

_‘_ I _am Ladybug.’_

 

_‘Adrien likes me.’_

 

_‘Holy shit.’_

 

“Well, yeah. I mean, who _doesn’t_ have a crush on her, you know? She’s absolutely amazing,” Adrien explains. Marinette can feel her face growing hotter by the second. “A lot of people really look up to her, are you guys really that surprised?”

 

Accepting his answer, everyone quiets down. Their food is eventually gone, and the bell signals it’s time to head back to class. Marinette knows for a fact the lesson will go ignored, clouded by her thoughts.

 

She’s going to have to borrow Alya’s notes.

**Author's Note:**

> there is more to come, updates will more likely than not be sporadic.


End file.
